Gilgamesh looked at Drako, who had dared to interrupt the king's actions.
"Huh? A commoner dares to interrupt me despite knowing my great status?"
Gilgamesh's gaze was only condescending as he looked at Drako. However, his face revealed shock for an instant when he saw through him with his Clairvoyance.
Gilgamesh Clairvoyance manifested in his Noble Phantasm Sha Naqba Imuru (He who Saw the Deep): The omniscient Omnipotent Star, allows him to discern heavily concealed truths with a single glance, from that of the opponent's True Name and Noble Phantasm to possibly even seeing through a piece of the demise of human history. Even though, for some reason, he maintains his Noble Phantasm limited.
"I was wrong; you are not a mere commoner."
To hear the King of Heroes tell someone that, when he had only considered Enkidu as someone other than a commoner, said a lot about what he had seen in Drako.
"Besides, that sword... how did you get it? Well, it doesn't matter. That's one of the few treasures I don't have. Hand it over."
For a moment, Gilgamesh's curiosity took hold before his personality woke him up.
"I don't wanna."
Drako's response was clear and concise. His smile said it all, he didn't even think much of Gilgamesh.
"Do you dare to defy the orders of this king? Then you must simply die."
"Step aside, Mordred."
Gilgamesh's weapons changed direction once again. His new target was none other than Drako.
At Archer's command, the group of Noble Phantasm floating in the air were set free, charging at the dragon.
A loud roar shook the night air, and a flash of light exploded across the sky.
Who would believe that such destruction could be achieved by throwing swords and other similar weapons? Countless Noble Phantasms rained down on the warehouse district's street that already looked as if it had been bombed.
Still, Gilgamesh's relentless attack did not stop. The Noble Phantasms fell like thunder, fired at the place where Drako was standing, with enough force to disperse anything, and continued to pound and pound and pound. The attack was continuous, even growing in violence. That's because the target, Drako, just wouldn't fall.
Everyone was in shock. Even in a critical situation with a large number of enemies around, everyone shared the same thoughts. Even Mordred could only look in amazement at her Master.
With one hand on his sword, Drako defended himself from the attacks of the Noble Phantasm that were directed at his head, and he just ignored the rest. With such attack power, the weapons should be able to penetrate the armor that Drako wore.
However... Gilgamesh was unable to pierce Drako's armor.
Both the offensive and the defensive were on a par.
Watching these two fight, Saber shuddered. If she was going to advance in the Holy Grail War, she would have to cross arms with these two. But in the face of beasts beyond reason, how should she prepare to stand firm then?
"The golden one seems proud of the number of his Noble Phantasm, but the guy in the armor has the worst affinity with him."
Artoria and Mordred looked at Iskandar in confusion. Even Mordred, who knew her Master's abilities best, did not know what he was thinking here.
"I had heard of a very special skin, but did not expect to see it in a Master's and applied in this way."
As Iskandar calmly commented, Drako did not step back from Gilgamesh's fierce attack. Instead, he was slowly moving forward.
"What do you mean, Rider?"
Artoria couldn't help but ask. Whatever information she obtained was important for future battles.
"In Ancient Greece, there was a divine beast similar to the Ugallu in Babylon. These beasts can "reject" human civilization, acting as a singularity that rejects human civilization itself. This ability remains in their skin, which has been used to create that armor."
A divine beast of Ancient Greece with such characteristics, Mordred was not slow to find out who it was.
"Nemean Lion..."
That's right.
Before Drako marched to Nasuverse, he received a god's visit (mentioned in chapter 226).
This was Aphrodite, who had responded to Drako's proposal, which we will discuss in a later chapter.
------------------------
(Flashback)
Once Aphrodite left Drako's house, he looked carefully at the skin of the Nemean Lion, not feeling sure what he should do with it.
"Should I hang it on the wall as a trophy or something?"
Drako really couldn't think of any other way to put this skin to use.
[Object detected with possibility of becoming a Noble Phantasm]
Sage's voice surprised Drako as he was thinking about what to do.
"What do you mean?"
[In my internal memory there is data from a Noble Phantasm related to the object you hold in your hands. You can turn it into a Noble Phantasm by spending a Fate Point].
"Really? Can I find out what the Noble Phantasm is before?"
Damn, this was much better than Drako had expected.
[Yes, showing Noble Phantasm data]
[Pelt of the Divine Beast
Type: ?
Owner: ?
Range: 1
Maximum number of targets: 1
The Pelt of the Divine Beast is the pelt of the Nemean Lion, obtained by Heracles after exterminating the beast during his First Labor. The beast's skin, through an arduous method, was worked by Heracles into the form of a long, decorated cloth with a distinct pattern.
The Nemean Lion can reject human civilization, so the pelt is invulnerable to attacks delivered by human weapons. However, it will not be ripped apart easily.]
"Wait, isn't this too broken?"
Drako couldn't help but wonder. He was going to leave at birth in just a few days and was going to confront Servants whose greatest powers resided in their Noble Phantasms, most of which were weapons created by humans.
For example, the Gate of Babylon was very powerful, but it was filled with weapons that are part of human civilization. That is to say, only Ea and Enkidu were capable of doing anything to it in case of confronting Gilgamesh.
However, this was not big enough to cover his whole body.
"Can you transform this into armor?"
[It can. However, the extent of this depends on your magical power. Also, it will cost an extra Fate Point].
"Perfect, redeem them right now."
[Using two Fate Points]
[You have obtained the Noble Phantasm: Pelt of the Divine Beast, now called Armor of the Divine Beast.]
------------------------
The violent crackling sound stopped when the last of the sixteen Noble Phantasm fell.
In the void of silence, there was only Drako in the midst of the descending dust. The surroundings, including warehouses and lamp posts, were completely ruined. The dragon was looking directly over him, where Archer was standing on the only remaining lamp post. All the Noble Phantasms of Gilgamesh had been left by the wayside, not a single blade had reached the black armor.
"Since you know what race I belong to, you should also know that you don't deserve to stand on top of me. Know your place, Gilgamesh."
"Damn tone... Are you trying to put me on the same ground as you? Me, who should be on top?"
For the third time, the space around him twisted to materialize horde of weapons...
The next count of Noble Phantasm burners reached thirty-two. This time, even Rider was silent. Drako had withstood a continuous attack of sixteen Noble Phantasms, but there was no way he could withstand twice that number. That was the same for all the other Servants. No one could estimate any longer the limits of the Golden Archer's latent power.
Drako only snorted at the words of Gilgamesh.
"You are only the strongest of mortals. Even I do not consider myself the strongest, and you see that my powers are not weaker to yours, even when I am trapped in this weak body."
Gilgamesh raised an eyebrow, and seemed to think of several things for a moment. Finally, he moved his hand and the thirty-two weapons disappeared as easily as they appeared.
He made a move that surprised everyone, jumping off the lamp post to stand in front of Drako.
"You have caught my attention, but I still do not consider you my equal. Tell me your name."
A smile blossomed on the dragon's face.
"Drako."
"Gilgamesh is serious. He plans to open the Gate of Babylon even more," Kotomine Kirei told Tohsaka Tokiomi through the communication jewel.
Kirei was watching the battle from Assassin's eyes as he conveyed what had happened to Tokiomi.
Both were surprised by Drako's power when he killed Lancer, but were now a little worried because of his power to defend himself from Gilgamesh.
Tohsaka Tokiomi held his head after hearing Kirei's comment,
The basement of the Tohsaka mansion had nothing of the mess of the distant warehouse district that had become the battlefield. Kirei, manipulating Assassin brought the results. The conditions were perfect.
The only thing that was not part of the calculations was that, leaving aside Drako and Mordred, Gilgamesh had come to the present time as the Archer class.
It would not be an exaggeration to say that the Archer class's characteristics are the power of its Noble Phantasm; for Gilgamesh, who possessed an extraordinary one of the EX range, it could have been inevitable. But in the end, the Independent Action skill of the conceited King of Heroes was too high rank, which was certainly the biggest miscalculation.
Tokiomi respected the King of Heroes' great prestige as much as he could, and as much as he deserved. But to think that his tolerance would be tested so much, and so early...
Gilgamesh was to be the last to act. Right now, it's still Assassin's turn to act and gather information. Something so reckless as to expose the Gate of Babylon again to everyone, and throw all his strength against the mysterious Drako, this simply cannot be overlooked.
For a Servant with the ability to Independent Action, who does not trust his Master, the only way to give him orders are the Command Spells. This grants the right for only three absolute commands. To return a Servant to Gilgamesh, who does not have an ounce of respect for his Master, they are the most precious thing Tokiomi had.
Always maintain your elegance; this is a family precept passed down through generations in the Tohsaka family. For him, who keeps it in his heart, being urged to waste a Command Spell before all other Masters...
"Teacher, your decision?"
Kirei urges him with a harsh voice from the other terminal of the communicator.
Gritting his teeth, Tokiomi stared at the back of his right hand.
Just as he was about to use one of them...
"Wait."
Kirei's voice stopped Tokiomi's movements.
"What's going on?"
"Gilgamesh has retreated, he has closed the Gate of Babylon on his own."
…
"Drako, a good name. Worthy of someone of your race. Although it is very unoriginal."
Gilgamesh nodded, looking satisfied for some reason. His crimson eyes had already lost the flame of the assassination attempt.
"You avoided death by a hair, you mad dog," he said as he looked at Berserker, who had not moved while watching the battle between Archer and Drako.
With his steady arrogance, the golden Archer glanced down the row of Servants.
"You commoners. Lower the crowd next time. I will tolerate nothing but a true hero."
With this last carefree warning, Gilgamesh canceled his materialization. The golden armor lost its physical state and disappeared, leaving only the remains of its radiance.
The confrontation between the two knights, gold and black, reached its conclusion in a way that no one expected.
"Hmph. This Archer is too reckless," Rider exaggerated with a bitter smile.
However, everyone else figured this was not the time for a sloppy comment. Both the mysterious Berserker who had defended himself so well from Archer's attacks and the boy who had even managed to be recognized by the King of Heroes were still there, standing in front of them.
Berserker's burning eyes wandered through the empty space, having lost their target... Then, finding new prey, they lit up again.
Pointed by those eyes tinged with the color of malice, Saber felt a chill run down her spine.
"...Ur..."
The voice seemed to boil from the ground. Like a spell, like a curse, it was a moan full of malice that hardly resembled human speech.
This was Berserker's voice; it was the first time that the others had heard it.
"...Ar... Ur... h!"
Like a spell with a human form, inflated with murderous intent, the black knight charged toward the silver King of Knights.
…
Prana is consumed not only to keep the Servant materialized but also for all the efforts he makes. Thus, in battle, the rate of consumption is higher. The prana is extracted from the Master's Magic Circuits and supplied to the Servant.
And the activation of the Magic Circuits, in Kariya Matou's case, means the hell of the pain of seeing his body consumed by the Worm Crests.
When dematerialized, the consumption of prana is minimal. But even in that state, Kariya was tortured by palpitations and dizziness.
But when Berserker was materialized, the agony was beyond imagination.
The foreign body awakens and begins to eat his flesh, crunching his bones. Acting like Kariya's pseudo-Magic Circuits, the Worm Crests delivered the absorbed prana to Berserker without any concern for the host's limits.
Talk of agony is not half the story. Being corroded, plundered by a living creature inside his body, the pain of being eaten alive is doubled by fear and disgust.
"Guh... Ga, gwa...hh!"
Hidden in the darkness, Kariya drowned out his cry of impending death, tearing his throat and chest. When his skin broke and began to spill blood, he began to bite the nails off both hands.
And worse, the consumption of prana required of the Master by the Berserker class is even greater. When Zouken had Kariya use the formula for insanity during the invocation to make him stronger, perhaps that was already a plan of the old mage to tyrannize him.
The worms were biting his spine. The worms are melting his nerves. The worms are nesting en masse inside Kariya's body, the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms are the worms...
"Gaaaaahh..."
He was unable to contain his scream, but only an emaciated groan erupted. The intense pain strangled him, and he could not get out of his throat. When he began to sob, Kariya continued to abuse his body in anger.
He could not even observe Archer and Berserker's fight on the main street; he had not even noticed that Berserker was not even fighting. When the storm of pain finally subsided, Kariya took some time to recover his ability to think and understand the situation.
"... Haa... Haa..."
Breathing harshly in the last traces of his agony, Kariya continued his observation of the battlefield through the vision of his familiar. There are still three Servants left. Archer could not be found anywhere. The battle is over.
The battle - has not been won. Perhaps Tokiomi made Archer escape by understanding his disadvantage.
Kariya's Berserker did not step back from the overwhelming Golden Archer. With a magical art trained in one year, Kariya was able to rival the magic of Tohsaka polished for generations on his own.
"... Fuhu, hahaha..."
Emaciated, Kariya laughed roughly at his theory.
He succeeded. That conceited magician was finally splashed with mud by an ordinary man like Kariya, after always making those like him less. Kariya mocked Tokiomi and Zouken enormously in his heart, thinking, "Did you see that?"
I am not a loser. No one will call me a failure or a bug anymore. I can fight you. I will let you know what fear is...
That's enough for tonight. There is no reason to continue a battle that will only torture you now that your sworn enemy, Archer, has retreated. Just let the other Servants kill each other as they wish.
When he formed his conclusion, Kariya was the most terrified of all those who saw Berserker take Saber as his new target and lash out at her.
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